Tiny Twist
by SilverFlameoftheWindScar
Summary: There's been a change in plans at the Dueling Club hosted by Professor Lockhart. This is Serpensortia gone wrong...more like the scene after it. HPDM slash Creature!Harry Powerful!Harry Maniuplative!Dumbledore overlyknowledgeable!Draco Scared!Gryffindors
1. Chapter 1

Tiny Twist

One-Shot

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter.

This will NOT be exact and the Latin will, most likely, be _horribly_ misspelled. So, if anyone cares to correct me, feel free to. I won't bite.

(--)

"_Expelliarmus_!" Professor Snape shouted, sending the beam of red light streaking at the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Lockhart. Aforementioned teacher was sent sailing through the air, his wand falling from his hand, before he landed with a thump on the dueling platform.

"A good idea, Professor Snape," the cheesy-sounding man stated as he stood, collecting his wand at the same time, "To show them that one." He stepped back down the table with the phases of the moon displayed upon it. "Though it was _pretty_ obvious what you were going to do and I could have easily blocked if-"

"Perhaps it would be a better idea to teach the students how to block unfriendly spells," Snape sneered at the man with a shrug while fingering his wand with gentle touches.

"Brilliant idea!" the Defense Professor called as he turned around. "How about…two volunteers? …Ah! Potter! Weasley! How about you?"

Harry nodded after looking at the man, shifting his way through the students to the other end of the table to ascend the stairs. "Weasley's wand is a hazard with even the simplest spells… We'll be sending Mr. Potter to the Hospital Wing in a matchbox," Snape drawled, getting a glare from the redheaded boy. "May I suggest…Malfoy? From my own house?" he added in sarcastic inquiry before turning to the blonde and motioning him onto the platform as he walked to the end behind him.

Lockhart merely turned away, toward where Harry was walking down the table. "Good luck, Potter," he offered quietly.

Harry quickly replied, "Thank you, sir," then continued to where he met Malfoy in the middle.

"Scared, Potter?" the Slytherin asked as they faced each other, wands up.

"You wish," the Gryffindor replied, missing the very small smile on his friends' faces as they walked to opposite ends.

"At the count of three, you will cast charms to disarm _only_. There will be no accidents here," Professor Lockhart said as they stood in position, Malfoy's wand over his head while Harry had his in front of him. "One. Two-"

"_Iverte Statium_!" Malfoy cast, interrupting the countdown and bringing his hind foot forward as he pointed his wand at his opponent.

The spell struck Harry, sending him back-flipping through the air to land at Lockhart with a thud. Malfoy stood straight, smirking lightly as his housemates laughed at the Gryffindor's misfortune. Harry pushed himself up, glaring heatedly at the blonde and causing him to lose the smirk on his pale face.

Pushing himself off the ground, Harry pointed his wand at the Slytherin and stated clearly, "_Rictersempra_!"

The jets of softly-colored light sped at the raven-haired boy's adversary, sending the other spinning to hit the platform at Snape's feet, slamming onto his bum with enough force to bounce slightly and throw his hair out of place. Malfoy looked up at his Head of House with a slight grimace before Snape pulled him up and pushed him back out to the dueling field.

"I said _disarm only_!" Lockhart called as the Slytherin got back into his stance, his wand above his head as he placed his other hand, flat, in front him.

Scowling, Malfoy whipped his wand around, casting, "_Serpensortia_!" A snake flew out of the end of his wand, hissing what sounded like remarks of disgruntlement to anyone caring to decipher them. It lifted its head, looking around the room after it landed with a light thump.

Harry stared curiously at it as he stood from his stance before Snape cut into his thoughts, saying, "Don't worry, Potter. I'll get rid of it for you," with his usual drawling sneer.

"Allow _me_, Professor Snape!" the Defense teacher replied, stepping a little in front of Harry. He pointed his wand at the brown-scaled serpent and stated, "_Volate Ascendile_!" before flinging his wand upwards, casting the snake into the air, it hissing what could possibly be very colorful words at its second flying lesson.

It landed again, with another, less graceful, thump, before standing and hissing at anyone close to it. Staring at it, Harry could've sworn he heard it speaking English instead of hissing. _**"Stupid people, throwing me into the air! What do I look like?! A flying squirrel?!"**_ it hissed viciously, getting a mental laugh from Harry as he stepped closer to it. It turned its head toward the students to its right. _**"Don't you dare come near me, you biped nitwits! I'll bite your **_**freaking**_** heads off!"**_

Not really knowing what he was doing at the time, Harry softly spoke to it, _**"Don't attack anyone."**_

"_**A Speaker!"**_ The snake cast its gaze to him. _**"You're a biped, too?!"**_ It turned its head back to the students, giving a warning hiss. _**"Don't come near me, freaking wierdos!"**_

"_**Don't hurt anyone,"**_ Harry continued, not paying attention to everyone staring at him fearfully. The snake turned toward the boy who had spoken to him earlier, a Hufflepuff, Justin, if Harry recalled correctly. _**"Don't hurt Justin!"**_

"_**I'm not going to hurt him…much! Tell them to stop staring at me!"**_ the snake hissed in reply, causing Harry to smile slightly.

"_**They stare because they fear you,"**_ Harry replied. _**"Calm down…come towards me."**_ The serpent looked curiously at him as he kneeled down before it and lay his hand against the table. _**"Please…I won't harm you…I swear."**_ Harry wasn't sure how he could be so calm, but he supposed it was because he remembered sending a python after Dudley and the little garden snake he had befriended when he was very small.

"_**Do you have something I could eat while you're at it?"**_ The snake slowly came closer to him, wary of anything Harry might do. _**"You aren't going to send me sailing through the air like those other two bumbling buffoons, are you?"**_

"_**No. I don't want to hurt you, have you get hurt, or have you hurt anyone… If you must bite someone, bite me," **_Harry replied, holding his hand out to the serpent's tongue, letting it taste him on the air.

"_**I still want to bite the fool that sent me forty feel into the air!"**_ the serpent hissed angrily as it easily slid into Harry's too-big robes and up his arm, its head poking out of the collar.

"_**No. You can't bite the Professor. They'll kill you if you do, and I don't want you hurt,"**_ Harry admonished, waggling his finger, like Hermione had done to Ron and himself numerous times, at the snake. _**"Like I said, if you must, bite me."**_

"_**It would make me feel better to sink my fangs into soft flesh…"**_ The snake flicked its tongue out, tasting Harry's amusement and consent on the air. _**"If. You. Insist!"**_

Harry bit his lip as the serpent's teeth pierced his skin, his left arm falling limp. _Damn… It's poisonous…_ he grumbled to himself as his entire left side followed his arm, giving out and dropping him to the floor. He used his right side to support himself before his other leg gave way. "Dammit…" he cursed softly as he fell onto his right side, careful to keep the snake from being crushed under him. "Vindictive little serpent…" he whispered softly, feeling the scaly creature slither over him to wrap around his abdomen, able to do so, easily, four times.

"_**Do you know what food actually is?!"**_ the snake hissed at him in slight worry at how thin he was before Harry lost all grip on consciousness.

--

When Professors Snape and Lockhart reached Madame Pomfrey's domain of the Hospital Wing, she knew it was something bad to warrant them _both_ coming with a student. The fact that it was Harry Potter with them alerted her all the more. "What's happened to him this time?" she asked as she pointed to the bed he'd used most of the previous year.

"A…a snake… Poppy, he was _talking_ to it!" Lockhart nearly screeched to her, freaked out beyond wit's end.

"Quiet, you feminine creation of the male gender!" Snape snapped at him, leaning over to spell away the boy's robe, jumper, tie, and shirt. The fact that the man screamed in a feminine fashion at seeing the snake coiled around the boy only cemented the Potions Master's belief that Lockhart either had a sex change or had been a female in a past life. Ignoring the man, Snape paid attention to the fact that, as soon as Harry's clothing was gone, his arms moved to keep the snake covered. "He is protecting the serpent, Poppy. We couldn't remove it without hurting the boy in the first place."

"Do you have any idea what this male bimbo is blathering on about?" the Healer asked him, pointing at the nearly hyperventilating Defense teacher.

"Potter is a Parselmouth, Poppy. It doesn't change anything other than the fact that the students will scorn him for being Slytherin's Heir or whatever nonsense they're spouting right now," Snape answered as he cast a relaxing charm on Harry to try, and fail, to move the boy's arms.

"Well, at least I can heal that bite on his shoulder," Poppy grumbled slightly, getting a headache from Professor Lockhart's screeching. "SHUT _UP_ OR GET OUT OF HERE!" she shouted at the man, her wrath instantly silencing him.

"My, my, Poppy… It's no wonder the students listen to you without much fuss." Snape smirked at her before something registered. "Wait, don't heal that just yet. Let me get a sample of the boy's blood mixed with the poison." Taking out a vial, he collected a few drops into it before corking it and putting it in his pocket. As Poppy cast a stasis charm on the boy, he noticed how, even still, the boy's body shivered, trying to warm up what little was there. _I knew he was being abused,_ Snape growled in his thoughts as his eyes softened the barest bit, unnoticeable to even Dumbledore.

"Keep an eye on him for a moment, will you, Severus?" Madame Pomfrey asked as she ushered Lockhart out of the wing. "Take care of your _other_ students, you dunderhead!" she exclaimed at him before sending him down the hall with stinging hexes.

"I'm sorry that I have to treat you so horribly, Harry," Snape whispered after the woman was out of earshot. "If not for the Dark Lord, the Death Eaters, and Dumbledore…I would have taken you out of that horrid Muggle domicile years ago… Lily would've wanted me to keep watch over you…" He watched as the boy stirred slightly, the stasis charm not even working. "Whatever has happened to you, Harry, I'll figure it out and I'll help you."

A soft hissing came from under the child's arms. "Don' worry, P'fessor… Axel says I'll be better than fine… Thank you…so much…for caring…" Harry whispered softly, half unaware of what he was saying, though the gentleness in his barely opened eyes told Snape of his truthfulness.

"Get well soon, Bolt," Snape replied with a very small smile, remembering his affectionate name for when he would go to see the child when he was very small (smaller than he should have been even at that young an age) and under the…_watchful_ eyes of the Muggles.

"I'll try…Knight…" were Harry's last words before he drifted into sleep.

Snape was in a cheerful – well, not-as-scornful mood for the rest of the day from the boy remembering the first thing he'd been called. The Potions Master remembered the child calling him the Dark Knight, yet shortened it to only Knight. At the end of classes, the normally angry man had a slight smile as he prepared to analyze what the serpent, Axel, had done to his little Bolt.

--End One--


	2. Chapter 2

Tiny Twist

Chapter Two

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter.

(--)

_Merlin's Pants!_ Professor Snape shouted to himself. _What snake did Draco summon?!_ he wondered, finding no match for the serpent's poison that had mixed with Harry Potter's blood. _Unless… Is it…magical? Did it add magic into its bite?_ He realized he would be unable to find out until Harry woke to translate what the snake was saying for him. _I'll visit him in the morning,_ the Dark man decided.

The next morning was not a good one for the Potions Master, as it started out with Ronald Weasley in the Hospital Wing.

"Why are you here?!" the redhead shouted at the greasy-haired man. Snape merely glared at him. "You probably care less than his relatives, though I don't see how!"

"What is that supposed to mean, Mr. Weasley?" the man drawled as he flicked his wand over Harry's, thankfully asleep, body.

"The wastes of life abuse him, that's what!" Ron continued to shout before Snape pointed his wand around them to draw a privacy screen up. "W-what are you d-doing?!"

"They're called _privacy_ charms, Mr. Weasley. They come in handy when you have someone who can't keep their voice down to save another's life," was the biting answer. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a few things to question our _sleeping beauty_ about."

"What's he gonna say that I have to leave for?"

"Have your parents shown you no discipline?! You will address me as 'sir' or 'Professor', Weasley, until you leave this school with a Certification of Completion," Snape sneered at him, leaning down to look directly into his face. "Boo!" Ron screamed in his high-pitched fashion before leaving the wing at a _very_ hurried pace. "I've always wanted to do that."

Soft laughter from the bed drew his attention to the child that had been sleeping on it. "Don't worry, Professor, you didn't wake me. I'd been listening to Ron babble on about some nonsense before you came," Harry said in a quiet voice. "I suppose you're here about Axel, right?"

"Yes. Why did you name it Axel?" Snape questioned as he continued with his wand, waving it over the boy to get satisfactory results.

"Because it's a jerk. That's what it means in Japanese. I trailed across it one time when I'd been reading a book before Hogwarts," Harry answered, relaxing into the bed when he felt aforementioned serpent lightly squeezing his abdomen in a hug. _**"You know what Knight is going to ask, right?"**_

_**"Of course. I'm a magical, **_**male**_** snake though I don't have a set species. All I know is that I'm magical,"**_ Axel replied, having liked his name even if it meant what it did. _**"Keep doing that. It feels wonderful,"**_ he added as Harry lightly scratched the scales on the top of his head.

At the pleasured hissing from the serpent, Harry looked back up to Snape. "He's magical and that's all he knows." Snape nodded as he cast a locking charm on the curtain, put his wand away, and pulled a chair up to take a seat. "I've missed you, Knight. I thought something had happened to you when you didn't come back…"

"Not at all… I had classes here that I had to teach. Albus forbade me from seeing you after you'd turned eight. I'm sorry, Bolt," Snape replied, reaching over to gently run his hand through the wild, silky-soft hair on the boy's head. "If you let your hair grow out, it'd be too heavy to go stick up at these odd angles."

"I know… It's just that Aunt Petunia freaks out when I try to. She's a scissor-happy person. Nearly killed me by slitting the side of my throat one time-" Harry had frozen after he'd let that slip, slapping a hand over his mouth. "Oops…"

"Yes… Oops," Snape echoed as Axel looked blearily up at him, hissing a few words. "What did he say?"

"He said that he was sleepy, hungry, and I still needed to feed him like I promised," Harry answered with a small smile. "Are there rats in the dungeons?"

"Yes," Snape answered before the snake was suddenly unwinding from Harry and quickly going out of the Hospital Wing doors. "I suppose that was what he was waiting for." Harry laughed softly before looking back at the man. A confused expression came over the teen's face before he concentrated slightly. "What are you…?" Snape trailed off when a tingly feeling came over his head and chest.

"Much better. I straightened your nose and spelled your features and lungs from damage by potion fumes," Harry answered, then flinched a little when Snape suddenly stood, whipping his wand out. "Kn-Knight?"

"I'm not going to hurt you, Bolt. I'm merely casting a few tests," the man soothed before doing so. Soon enough. Harry found himself glowing five different shades of gold and he watched as Snape sat heavily into his chair. "Do you know how much that serpent's magical bite changed you? It broke so many blocks that had been on your magic… That's the reason you fainted…"

"I thought…it was because Axel is poisonous… What do the gold colors mean?" Harry asked, squirming a little under the Potions Master's intense gaze. "Er…sir?"

"Harry…there was a single block cast on your magic by Lily when you were a baby. You had so much power that she was afraid it would hurt you. As you grew, the block was supposed to let a little more of your power loose…" Snape paused, sighing. "Albus fortified them…keeping you above average but not at your full level… You fainted because all of your power was sweeping through your body.

"The snake has no species from my analysis of his venom, but he is definitely magical. His bite released all of those blocks, even the ones cast by Albus later when your own magic started to destroy the first obstacle.

"Your body went numb as it did so, didn't it?" Harry nodded. "Just as I thought… You'll only get more powerful, Harry, and we need to see what, exactly, you can do. I wouldn't be surprised if you could perform wandless magic with the barest effort."

"What's wandless magic?" Harry asked then slapped his head. "Well, duh. Magic without a wand, of course, but the specifics," he added, glaring slightly at the chuckling Professor.

"A wand is a focus for your average wizard or witch. It takes no extra effort to use it because it is so small. There have been some, such as Merlin, who had enough power to use a staff. Then, there are the ones who are so powerful that he or she needs no focus but his or her own body. The last is wandless magic, Harry. It is _extremely_ hard for your average wizard or witch to even be able to perform the levitation charm on a feather without his or her wand."

"So…I'm so powerful now that it should scare me, right?"

"Well, not _scare_ you, per se, but you shouldn't flaunt it. It is easy to lose control of your magic when a magical person is as strong as you are Harry. Before the end of your Third Year, I expect you'll surpass even Albus," Snape answered with a small smile toward the child. "Come to my office at the end of the school day after Poppy lets you go, Harry. I'll talk more with you then."

"Okay. Keep an eye out for Axel. See you later, Knight," the boy replied softly as he lay back with a tired sigh.

"Sweet dreams, little Bolt," Snape said in response before leaving from behind the curtain. Turning it, he charmed it to be silenced both ways so that his young charge could get a quiet and hopefully-decent sleep.

--

Harry woke later that night, his stomach grumbling fierce enough to wake the dead – or so he thought. _I'll be fine. It's only been a day since I've eaten. I've gone longer._ He rubbed his eyes, making him wonder who'd taken off his glasses, before opening them to gaze at the Hospital Wing. Turning toward the window, it was when he looked at the moon that he felt pain start to sting his eyes. "Wha?" he questioned in a whisper, reaching up to rub at them again. "I must have something in my eye…" he concluded before it felt as if someone was trying to gauge the soft tissues from his head.

_I should know… Uncle Vernon nearly did,_ he recalled, remembering why he really had to wear glasses. He whimpered softly as he pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes, one each, hoping to reduce the pain. "What's… …happening?" he questioned before the pain vanished. It was almost as if it'd never been there, though Harry could feel the slight aftershock. Opening his eyes again, he swept his vision over the room.

"Oh my God…" he uttered in a shocked fashion, able to see everything, even the spiders in the far corners, to an astonishing degree. "I…what… Dammit," he cursed as he looked about for a mirror. One appeared in front of his face, but he had learned not to question things when he was young so just went along with it.

Lifting it to his face, he found that his eyes, which had been in a normal _human_ form, were now slit and glowing a soft emerald-lime – a perfect coloring of Avada Kedavra (though Harry didn't know the name, only remembering the color of the light from his youngest recollection). He relaxed his grip on the mirror and watched as it vanished. _That must be the wandless thing Knight was talking about,_ he figured before an idea struck him. _Maybe I can…_ A sudden, "Ah ha!" was whispered when a ham and cheese sandwich appeared in front of him.

_The Dursleys won't be able to destroy me now. I'll just have to glamour myself to look like I'm wasting away or something._ Harry lay back into the soft mattress, snuggling into the bedcovers as he drifted into a contented sleep, still tired from the incident at the dueling club.

--

Poppy Pomfrey was scurrying about her domain, preparing for whatever may happen through the day. She had seen the green and red striped brown snake curled beside her patient when she'd stepped into the Hospital Wing. The Healer gazed at the raven-haired boy from where she was standing. "I'm sorry you have to go through this, Harry... If I could…I'd help you…but Albus forbade me to do so…" she said quietly, sighing when she figured that the child couldn't hear her.

"It's all right, Madame Pomfrey," a groggy voice replied. The woman jumped lightly, not expecting the boy to have heard her from _across the room!_ "Madame…? Sorry if I scared you."

"Not to worry, Harry," she replied as she walked over to him. "Let me get a check up on you and I _may_ let you go." She took out her wand but nearly dropped it in shock when she took a closer look at his eyes. "W-wha…what happened to your eyes?!"

"I can see better than ever! You've got a light freckle under your right eye," he replied with a smile. The woman rolled her eyes with a laugh. "I think it was when Axel bit me. He's magical, so it did something to my magic. Professor Snape said something about it releasing the power Dumbledore tried to keep away from me."

"Dumbledore blocked your power without your consent?!" Poppy demanded, outraged. "I ought to have him arrested for that!" She descended into mumbles about wishing she could call up Madame Bones to have the 'barmy, old codger' thrown in something Harry thought she called 'Azkaban'.

"Ma'am, what's Az-" Harry suddenly cut himself off as he slapped a hand over his mouth, groaning and whimpering almost silently. If not for Poppy's Healer-trained sense of hearing, she knew she wouldn't have picked it up. "What…now…?" the boy ground out between his fingers.

"Let me have a look-see, Harry," the woman gently demanded, taking the twelve-year-old's jaw in a tender grip. "Open your mouth so I can see," she continued, and he did so, clenching his eyes shut when another spasm of pain came from his mouth. "Sweet Merlin… You're…growing _fangs_… Your snake's done more than you thought…" she informed, her voice quiet because of the shocking events.

As suddenly as with his eyes, the pain stopped, leaving him with an aching need to maim something for his misfortune. Quelling the urge, he looked up to the woman. "I think…this only happens when I'm awake… It happened to my eyes last night when I woke up because I was hungry…" Calling another mirror out of thin air, he looked at his straight, pearly-white teeth and gleaming fangs that were about a fourth of an inch longer than they had been. The incisors of his bottom teeth were an eighth-inch longer, leaving in his mind the image of a dragon's mouth. "This is just too strange. What next? A forked tongue?" he mumbled sleepily.

"If you're tired, Harry, go back to sleep. I'll bring you something to eat when you wake again." The boy nodded before doing so. "I think he's got more than just this to deal with… I feel it in my gut…and my feelings are _never_ wrong…" She sighed sadly again before having to tend to a person covered in boils. _At least there's only _one_ today. Severus must be slacking,_ she thought fondly.

--

It wasn't until lunch time that Harry woke again. Poppy was at his bedside, along with Snape. "…ugh… Knight?" The Potions Master looked over at the boy with a lighting of his obsidian eyes. "You aren't freaking out like Madame Pomfrey?"

Harry cringed with a grin at the fierce glare bestowed on him by the matron of the Hospital Wing. "I don't _have_ to keep you here, Harry…" she threatened, a gleam in her eyes. Aforementioned eyes softened as she asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Not agonized…_yet_…" he said, emphasizing the last part. "It should start up any sec-ugh…" He groaned quietly, gritting his teeth as pain racked his spine. Rolling over slightly, he nearly cried out when it attacked his hands, forearms, elbows, feet, lower legs, and knees. A slight ripping sound echoed as he whispered, "Damn…it…"

"Bolt… Shh…just relax…" Snape softly soothed, standing to place caring touches on certain pressure points before the boy went limp. "Just sleep, Bolt. I'll try to be here when you wake again because I don't think you're finished with this yet."

"Thanks…Knight…" Harry whispered before falling asleep again.

"Let's find out what has happened to him this time," Poppy said chokingly, spelling away the child's shirt as she rolled him onto his stomach. "Oh Merlin… What's this doing to him, Severus?" the woman questioned as her voice shook and her eyes misted lightly.

"I don't know, Poppy, but Axel, his snake, said that he would be 'better than fine'. I suppose this is protection for him," the Professor answered in a very solemn voice as he gazed at the icy-blue scales along Harry's spine from his beltline to his hairline, along with the bone-looking scales over his shoulder blades and lower back. Now that he thought about it, they looked like reptilian wing bones – like a dragon's.

Remembering the ripping sound, he lifted the boy's right arm to see scales gleaming from the knuckles of his hand, along the topside of his forearm, to his elbow where it came from his skin at a point. He was sure it was very sharp, as well, having just pricked his finger on it. He found that they were over his palm, but in a more skin-like color, and wrapped around his arm like gauntlets. The greasy-haired man mildly grimaced at the future his little Bolt would have to live through if people didn't accept this one-of-a-kind change.

"Severus! Look at this!" Poppy exclaimed quietly, lifting the leg of Harry's pajama pants. Scales trailed from the top of his foot, coating his shin, to come to a point out of the skin of his knee, much like his elbow. There were scales on the soles of his feet as well as the backs of his legs. They reminded him of boots. "This…this is going to hurt him, Severus… The students will be afraid of him… They'll force him into an outcast, a loner…

"Oh no… Look at his face, Severus…" She pointed to his cheekbones, which had a layer of the softly-colored, microscopic scales coming to a point under the bottom of his eyes, looking like a streak more than scales. Continuing, she indicated the solid color along his eyelids and lips. "The scales are so tiny… They're not microscopic…they're smaller that a nanometer…"

"How can you tell if they're _that_ tiny, Poppy?" Snape drawled, very certain that her eyes weren't _that_ good.

"It's called a magnifying charm, Severus…" she answered as she cast charms over the boy to make sure that he wasn't hurt in any other form. "This is going to make it even worse, Severus. People are going to _run_ from him rather than shun him…"

"I won't l et him become a depressed, angst-ridden teenager, Poppy. I'll, somehow, treat him with the care he deserves," the man declared as they rolled the teen onto his back and replaced his shirt. The Potions Master lightly traced the scar on the child's forehead that had earned the nickname Snape had given him. "I'll keep you safe, Harry…somehow."

--

Next when Harry woke, he found himself to be secluded behind a privacy curtain. He could sense the silencing charms and was grateful. Sighing silently, he looked at his hands and feet, knowing he had the scales on them. He had felt each one pierce through his skin before hardening into something like icy-blue armor – and weapons, as well, if his the blade-like scales from his knees and elbows were anything to go by.

"Dinner just ended, Bolt. Are you hungry?" a soft voice asked.

"Not really, sir. I'd better not eat until whatever's next passes," he answered the dark-robed man. "Where's Axel?"

"I believe he's hunting at the mo- Harry!" Snape shouted, leaping forward as the raven-haired child convulsed, horrible cracking sounds coming from his body. Watery eyes looked up at the Potions Master, but the tears never fell. Harry's mouth opened in a silent scream as the noises continued, making Snape grateful for the silencing charms on the surrounding space.

"It…hurts… Too…much…" Harry finally passed out from the pain as a gentle hand ran through his hair, calming him.

--End Two--


	3. Chapter 3

Tiny Twist

Chapter 3

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter.

(--)

It was only an hour later when Harry's eyes opened again. "Professor? Madame Pomfrey?" he asked, his voice soft.

"We're right here, Harry," Poppy answered. "How are you feeling?"

"Better than ever…oddly enough… No pain, no gain, right?" he asked as he sat up. "Oh! Axel!" Turning to the serpent, he asked, _**"What happened to me?"**_

_**"I had no idea but…You're the Scale Master,"**_ Axel hissed in answer, looking up at the boy. _**"It's a possibility that if that blonde nitwit hadn't summoned me, you would've never reached your potential!"**_

_**"What a sec…rewind. I'm a **_**what**_**?"**_

_**"**__**The **__**Scale Master…the only one to ever exist and the only one that ever will. Anything with scales will answer to you – any reptiles if you want to be blunt about it. And the fact that you're the most powerful magical creature that has and will ever live is a huge plus. Dumb, bearded cretin!"**_ Harry knew instantly that his serpent was insulting the Headmaster. Sniggering, he made no move to defend the old codger. _**"I hope you know that this means you are outside of any laws, Harry. The Ministry of Magic can do nothing in your case because you are the only creature of your kind. There has to be at least three beings of the same kind before they can pass a law on the species."**_

_**"Wicked…"**_ Harry grinned at all the doors that this opportunity opened for him. _**"Eh…what happened to me with that last bout of agony?"**_

_**"Look at your nails and get either of them to cast a skeletal status charm on you,"**_ was the advice from Axel. _**"I'm going to sleep. Eat something, Harry, until you feel fit to burst. You've got time to and you're going to need it when the next set of pain rips through you."**_

_**"Uh oh…"**_ Harry looked worried about that, but just shrugged. _Whatever's going to happen will come whether I try to stop it or not,_ he figured, looking to the Healer and Potions Master. "Axel says for you to cast a skeletal status on me and he told me to take a peek at my nails," he informed them before following the serpent's words to him. "What…the…bloody…HELL!? WICKED!!!"

"What is it?!" Snape jumped out of his seat, lifting the boy's hand to his face to look at it. "Claws… Wonderful…" he stated dryly, eyeing the icy-blue creations. They looked like his scales, and Snape wouldn't be surprised if that's what they were instead of being fingernails any longer. "What else did Axel say? There was a lot more hissing than just to tell us that you needed to inspect what has become of your nails and about your bone structure."

"Well…I'm a Scale Master and anything scaly – in essence, reptilian – will listen to me," he answered. "I've got another fight to go through and, from the way Axel talked about it, it's going to be the last one." Snape sighed softly. "Don't worry, Knight. I've pulled through worse than- Oops again…"

"You are very lucky, Harry, that I'm afraid I'll hurt you if I use Legilimency on you right now," the Potions Master growled as a plate appeared on Harry's legs. "Eat _all of it_, Harry, while we get the results from the skeleton scan."

"Yes, sir," Harry replied meekly, picking up his fork to dig into some mashed potatoes. It was after he'd finished eating that the two had come back to tell him about the scan. "What about it, Professor Snape? Madame Pomfrey?"

"You…Your bone structure is absolutely fortified, Harry," the Healer answered, still getting over the astonishment. "I doubt any bone-breaking curse could do its job…" she added, getting a grin from the scarily-powerful pre-teen. Suddenly, the expression fell away as the boy shuddered. "Is it coming?"

"Y-yeah…It feels...different…Get away…" Harry wrapped his arms around himself as Poppy made Snape leave with her. A scream ripped out of the child's throat as he felt his body growing, his skin expanding, and his muscle mass becoming larger. His scream continued until his throat was too raw to let it. _Let…me…faint…_ he pleaded to whatever was doing this to him, but found himself denied when his pain continued. The boy tasted copper in his mouth before the blood in the back of his throat dribbled down his chin. He coughed as his eyes rolled back in his head, and what was supposed to be another scream came out in broken coughs before he finally passed into darkness.

"Bolt! Harry!" Snape called as he ran back into the curtain as soon as Poppy released him. The child resting on the bed looked as only a relation to the Harry Potter that had been there. Long, silken hair was spread about his shoulders, lithe muscle sculpting the boy's frame. His features were more graceful, his child-like cheeks erased. _He looks like a perfect combination between Lily and James now…_ the man concluded. There were red highlights in the boy's hair from the sun's rays, leaning even more to the effect, though Snape was certain that the ice-blue tips and streaks most assuredly _weren't_ in the Potter or Evans lines.

"He's…grown into what he would have been had it never been for his mistreatment…" Poppy offered with a watery smile. "I just hate that he had to go through so much pain to achieve it."

"Me, too, Poppy… Me, too."

--

Harry groaned, feeling the last bit of his pain leaving him. "Dammit… That bloody hurt!" he grumbled then grinned, flashing his fangs. That was when he heard a feminine squeak. "Ron," he stated before looking over at the redhead. The Gryffindor had just stepped behind the curtain, seeing what he had thought was his friend. "It's me, Ron. Hedwig's eyes were huge when she was thrown out of the boot of your dad's Ford Angelina after we were battered by the Whomping Willow."

"Yeah…it's you, Harry… Only you'd know that..." Ron stepped closer to him, wary of the slit eyes that glowed softly and…gently and the color-streaked face. "You scared me and Hermione when you collapsed, mate… We thought you were gonna die!"

"Nope. I can't be killed off that easily. I'm the bloody Boy-Who-Won't-Die, remember?" Harry asked, putting emphasis on his title with scorn and a snarl before the window behind him exploded. "Dammit!" he exclaimed, leaping off the bed while wanting Ron to be safe. A slight whimper came from him as something tore out of his back, shielding them both, as he wrapped his arms around his best friend to protect him. "Are you all right, Ron?"

"Y-yeah but…w-what was that?" Ron looked _up_ (only by an inch or so) at him. "And _what_ are _those_?!"

"Huh?" Harry looked behind him. "Oh. Um… Wings?" the boy asked, looking curiously at the appendages. The bones were icy-blue, like his scales, and the membrane was a silvery color. No pieces of glass had pierced the thin skin. _It must be like my skeleton,_ he figured as he looked back at his best friend. "I, uh… This is the first time I've summoned them. I didn't even know I had them." Concentrating on them sinking into his back again, he shivered as they did so, the nerves in the wings sending odd sensations through him. "That feels funny."

"Eh…Harry… If you don't mind my asking, did you know you were a Parselmouth?" Ron inquired after Harry had (_Without his wand,_ jumped into Ron's mind.) repaired the window.

"A garden snake was my friend when I was small. I sent a python on Dudley at the zoo before I got my Hogwarts letter." Harry looked at Ron as he added, "I'm sure loads of people here can do it."

"Harry…the only two Parslemouths were Salazar Slytherin and You-Know-Who! It's a sign of a Dark wizard!" the redhead exclaimed as a bushy-haired Gryffindor joined them.

"You don't…think I'm…evil…do you?" Harry asked softly and slowly, dreading the answer as he cast his eyes away from his best friend.

"Not evil, Harry…" Hermione interjected, announcing her presence (for Ron anyway). "There's a difference between dark and evil… You know that. Ron's just been raised to think they're the same."

"Don't talk about-"

"Oh, hush, Ronald. You know it's true. Harry could have turned out to have scales up his body and you would have labeled him a slimy Slytherin without enough thought to fill a teacup," she admonished, waggling her finger.

This got a bit of a smile from Harry, a fang poking over his lip. "Er… 'Mione, I do have scales." Her finger ceased its movement as she gazed at him. "I'll show you," he added, shedding his shirt to the floor as he turned around. Her blush didn't reach his nearly-destroyed emotional and confidence psyches. "That tickles," he mumbled when she reached out a hand to brush over the icy-blue creations on his back. He shivered, not understanding what was happening to him. _**"Axel…what's happening to me right now?"**_ he directed to the snake.

"_**Currently, you are experiencing pre-arousal."**_

"_**Well…"**_ Harry blushed hotly, letting Hermione inspect his hands instead. _**"That was awful blunt…"**_he commented as he sat back on the bed. "My legs, too, 'Mione," he said to her after pulling his shirt back on. Rolling up the legs of his pants, he let her inspect the armor-like scales there, as well. "And my face."

Hermione looked up at the color over his face and realized that the streaks matched his scales. "Wow…" she murmured softly as she traced tender fingertips over his cheekbones then eyelids. "This is amazing, Harry," she said to him as she traced over his lips, as well. Harry had to forcibly stop the shiver that tried to take over him though he couldn't prevent the contented sigh. "Can you…extend your wings again, Harry?" she asked, having slipped into research mode.

"Sure," he answered, the wings flaring out of his back. She gasped at seeing them. "What is it?"

"You've got some sharp points on these bones, Harry," she answered as she inspected them from every angle she could reach. "They're beautifully dangerous," she concluded, getting a light reddening of the twelve-year-old's face. "You've got nails now, Harry. You're going to be nearly female soon enough!"

Harry choked at that, Ron thumping his back to get the air in his throat loose. "Bloody hell, Hermione! Kill the guy, why don' t you? Besides, they're more _claws_ than _nails_!" The girl merely smiled. "You all right, mate?"

"Tension reliever. Good idea, 'Mione," Harry coughed, feeling like he'd just swallowed the Snitch again. "Wish I'd had this scale armor at the Quidditch match."

"Just about got your bits knocked off, didn't you?" Ron asked with a laugh. When Harry glared, the redhead found himself pinned to the floor with one-hundred-fifteen pounds of pure muscle on top of him. "Okay…bad joke…"

Harry grinned, flashing his fangs again, before a voice cut in, "Don't bite the Weasley boy. Save that pleasure for my insults."

"Kn-Professor Snape!" Harry quickly curbed his nickname.

"It's quite all right, little Bolt. I'm _sure_ your friends can keep a secret if they've been around you this long, you conniving little beast," Snape responded, his light smile showing his words were of fondness and not scorn. The other two of the Golden Trio gaped at the man before doing the same to Harry. Ron promptly fainted while Hermione fell heavily onto the floor.

"Knight…I think we've got some explaining to do…"

--

It was later that night when Poppy finally released Harry from the Hospital Wing. "I'm sorry, Ma'am… I need to get my trunk and I'll be _right_ back," Harry quipped with a smile.

"Hush, you. Now get out of here. You've been cooped up too long with this old lady," she replied, leading him from the wing with a gentle hand between his shoulder blades. "You're welcome for a chat and some tea whenever you'd like, Harry. If something goes wrong-"

"Come to the wicked witch of the Hospital Wing!" Harry interrupted before running away with a cackle, feeling like he'd been rejuvenated from his Dursley-incrusted silence and quietness.

"WICKED WITCH WILL BE CORRECT WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU!" echoed down the hallway, causing several students to whip around and stare at the madly-laughing Boy-Who-Lived as he ran down the corridor, faster than any of them could ever hope to achieve.

"YOU KNOW YOU LOVE ME!" he shouted back, cupping his hands around his mouth to make it carry back to the woman. A wordless cry of rage swept down the corridor before several spells were flying at him. "SOME OF THOSE _CAN'T_ BE LEGAL! OW! THAT WAS MY BLOODY FOOT!"

"YOUR SCALES WILL KEEP IT SAFE, YOU LITTLE HOODLUM!"

"NOT IF YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY ABOUT IT, THEY WON'T!"

"GET TO YOUR DORMITORY!"

"YES MASTER!"

"I LIKE THE SOUND OF THAT!"

Harry blew a raspberry at her before letting another cackle escape him as he ran to Gryffindor Tower. "Peeves is rubbing off on me," he mumbled to himself with a gleeful grin as he stepped up to the Fat Lady. "Evening, ma'am. Sonnet."

"It's good to see you, dear," she replied as she swung in, letting him inside.

Harry let out an "oof!" when the entirety of the Quidditch Team glomped him into a group hug. "I missed you, too," he said with a smile, his elongated teeth and streaked face not putting them off in the slightest, though the rest of Gryffindor took more than a few steps away from him.

"S-Slytherin's…h-h-heir…" a voice stuttered, causing a growl to tear itself from Harry.

"Whatever you want to believe. I'm tired of denying it." With that, he walked up to his dorm, changed into his pajamas, pulled his curtains closed, and burrowed into his blankets, the pleased hissing of Axel lulling him into sleep.

--End Three--


	4. Chapter 4

Tiny Twist

Chapter Four

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter.

(--)

When Harry woke in the morning, it was to find himself wrapped in his wings. Stretching what felt like to Hagrid's hut and back, he yawned widely. A squeak alerted him to the fact that he'd just frightened one of his roommates. He snorted lightly as he left the warm confines of his bed and grabbed a change of robes on his way to the shower. As the warm water crashed against him, he let a contented sigh escape his mouth.

_**"Mind if I join you, Harry?"**_ Axel asked but didn't wait for an answer as he coiled up in a corner of the fogging cubical. Harry grinned a bit before angling the water off his hand to splash the serpent. _**"Scale Master or not, I'm going to bite you for that."**_

_**"I think I'm practically immune to anything a scaly creature can do to me, so go for it,"**_ Harry replied as he soaped himself up, dodging the snake. He blew a raspberry at him as he finished washing his hair. Standing in the warm water a little longer, he wondered if people would fear him as some already did – his own house an example of it.

Exiting the shower with a sigh, he found himself crashing into his best friend. "Bloody hell, Harry! Warn a guy, would you?" Harry grinned at him, already standing and dressing. Ron watched as the Scale Master hissed at the cubical he'd left before a brown snake came from it. "What the-"

"Ron, meet Axel. He's the snake Malfoy summoned a few days ago," the originally-dark-haired boy interrupted. _**"This is my best friend, Axel. I ask that you don't hurt him."**_

_**"What about that bushy-haired girl?"**_

_**"She's Hermione, my female best friend,"**_ Harry answered, smiling when the snake nodded. _**"Thanks; come on, my robes are warmer than the floor."**_ Axel slithered into the young wizard's clothing to wrap around his abdomen and chest, poking his head out of Harry's collar. "I asked him not to hurt you or 'Mione, Ron."

"Th-thanks… It still scares me when you do that…" Harry gave him a curious look. "You sound so…cruel when you speak Parseltongue," the redhead explained as he stepped into a shower.

"You'd know if I was actually being cruel, Ron. I don't know if I _can_ be," Harry replied. "I'm going on to the common room. I'll wait for you."

"Thanks, mate!" Ron replied as his friend left the bathroom.

"Good morning, Harry," Hermione said to her best friend when she sighted him. "How're you doing?"

"I'm better than ever!" the boy answered as he sat beside her on the couch. "Can you tell me what I missed?" As they waited for Ron, Hermione told Harry about everything he'd missed and how she'd collected his homework, but hadn't been able to give it to him because he was always sleeping when they visited. "Er… If I asked for your help, would you get mad at me?"

"Not at all, Harry. You weren't there for the classes, so you didn't learn anything," she answered with a smile.

"Well, I only need your help on a few things, so I won't pull a 'Ron' and beg you to practically do it for me. I did read my texts this summer, so no worries about that. I've been to the library on a few occasions without you two knowing, so, if I wasn't sure I'd mess up _something_…"

"I understand, Harry. I'm glad you're finally breaking out of the mold!" Harry raised his eyebrow at her for that terminology. "You're studying on your own!" She leaned close to him to add, "Not letting Ron distract you with invigorating games of Wizard's Chess."

"Oh yes…invigorating… Not exactly the word I would have chosen," Harry replied as Ron came down the stairs from the boys' dormitory. "Come on. I know breakfast is calling because of the sounds from Ron's stomach."

"I'm growing! I need my nourishment!" Ron justified as they left Gryffindor Tower. "Anyway, I can't believe how people reacted to you last night. That was just dirty."

"I agree," Hermione stated. "Magical people are so ingrained into their beliefs that anything to do with snakes is evil. Oh, excuse me – dark. They aren't the same thing!"

"I know, 'Mione, and I thank you both," Harry cut in. "You two care, along with the Quidditch team, and that's all that matters to me. And Knight – I can't forget him."

"I still can't wrap my mind around the fact that he helped you when you were little," the youngest Weasley male said as they came to the bottom of the Grand Staircase. Harry slowed down slightly, an uncharacteristic smirk curving his lips. "Harry?"

"Malfoy," he whispered softly before the blonde and his two goons reached them.

"Hey, Potter! Professor Snape told me to be wary of you! Are you a _powerful, dangerous_ wizard now?" Malfoy questioned. "You're already the Heir of Slytherin, aren't you? A _Dark_ Parselmouth _must_ be scary."

Harry turned to grin at the Slytherin. "I'm not Slytherin's Heir, that I'll assure you of…but I am dangerous…" he answered, his eyes glowing a fiercer Avada-Kedavra as a soft, cackling chuckle came from him. "You should listen to your Head of House, Malfoy," he continued before seeming to disappear as he moved with a graceful swiftness to stand before the blonde. "After all, I'm sure he knows what he's talking about," Harry finished, a cold smile stretching widely across his face to flash his most-assuredly-poisonous fangs at the Malfoy heir.

"What did you do to yourself, Potter? For a Gryffindor, you're awful scaly," Malfoy sneered, hiding his fright with an overly-practiced mask.

"That's because I'm _the_ Scale Master…one and only. Ask Axel, or would you like me to do so for you?" Harry leaned in closely to the Slytherin, his slit and glowing eyes focusing directly on the blonde's. "Boo!" Malfoy squeaked before running down the hall to a side entrance of the Great Hall. "I agree with Knight. I've always wanted to do that."

"At least one welcome person has a healthy fear of you, Harry," Ron said with a laugh as they entered the main doors. Sitting down at the Gryffindor Table, they quickly filled their plates, though Hermione withdrew a book from her bag. "At least you still eat normally," Ron commented through a mouthful of eggs and sausages.

Hermione marked her spot in her book with a strip of spare parchment before thwaping the redhead with the book. "Mind your manners, Ronald. Don't talk with your mouth full; it's disgusting." Ron merely shoved another forkful in his mouth.

Harry rolled his eyes at their antics before the hooting of several owls came through the windows before the birds followed their calls. "Mail's here, guys," he informed, going back to his breakfast. _I never get anything anyway,_ he figured before sensing his snowy owl. "Hedwig…?" He looked up to see aforementioned bird and felt his jaw nearly drop to the floor at her condition. "Hedwig!" Standing up on the bench, he leapt into the air to catch her, his own wings spreading to hold him in midair. "Hedwig…girl... Can you hear me…?"

A soft hoot came from the owl as she stretched a frazzled wing out, a note clutched in her talons that had been slightly hidden beneath it. He, very carefully, took the letter from her and stuffed it in his pocket. Flapping his wings, he glided to the Head Table in front of Hagrid.

"Wha' 'appened, 'Arry?" the half-giant asked, motioning Harry to come behind the table as he stood to face the, to him, small boy.

"I…I don't know… But when I do find whatever it was, I'll kill it… I'll mutilate it…" the Gryffindor answered softly, growling the last part out between clenched teeth. Calming so as not to hurt anyone with accidental magic, Harry placed his injured owl in the tender care of Hagrid's hands. "Can you help her, Hagrid?"

"Aye, I do believe so," the huge man answered with a smile that was mostly hidden by his facial hair. Harry gave a soft smile in return as he ran his fingertip gently over the beautiful bird's feathers. "Don' yeh worry, 'Arry. I'll 'ave her back ta normal in no time."

"Thank you, Hagrid. I'll try to come and visit you during my break period." The giant of a man nodded before ushering the boy back to his seat, though Harry wasn't in any mood to eat any longer. "I can't wait to get my hands on whoever did this to her."

"Don't worry, Harry. It'll all turn out," Hermione consoled as they left the Great Hall to get to Potions in the dungeon. "As a person once said, 'Everything happens for a reason.' Besides, what doesn't kill her will only make her stronger."

"Thanks, 'Mione."

--

It wasn't until later on in the school year that Harry found something that gave him clue that they were in the calm of the storm, excluding the petrified students. He had found the Hufflepuff that had talked to him the day of the dueling club – he had been petrified.

"Why is Sir Nicholas…just floating there with his head hanging off?" Harry had asked under his breath before kneeling beside his schoolmate. _Can I reverse this…?_ he had wondered and asked Axel. Axel had informed him that it would have to be a scaly creature that had done it.

Coming out of his memory and the fact that Filch tried to get him expelled when finding him with the Hufflepuff, Harry sighed. "This is getting worse…" he mumbled to himself as he took out the book he had found in Myrtle's bathroom. "Hmm… Tom Marvolo Riddle…" The boy drummed his claws on the table as he stared at the open journal. "Maybe…" He picked up his quill, inked it, and wrote in the blank book.

_My name is Harry Potter._ He stared at it for a moment before his writing was soaked into the parchment. _What the-?!_

_Hello, Harry Potter. I am Tom Riddle._ If Harry would have taken the time to analyze the magical aura of the book, he would have found it to be gleeful.

_Do you know anything about the Chamber of Secrets?_

_Yes._

Harry took a moment to groan at the sarcastic answer. _Will you tell me?_

The book swallowed his message again. It took a few moments for an answer to come back, as if the book was thinking about it. _No._ Harry groaned again, letting out an exasperated sigh as he rubbed his temples. _But I can show you._

"Wha? What the hell kind of answer is that?!" Harry acquired the solution to his dilemma when the book shown in a pale yellowish light before he was pulled into it. After being spat back out, he could only whisper, "Hagrid…? He opened the Chamber…?" _No…he wouldn't have. He may have a love of creatures, but he knows when they're too dangerous to mess with._ Harry tapped his lip with his claw, thankful for the icy scales covering it and keeping it from getting cut. _I'm visiting Hagrid tomorrow. Hermione's loaded down with homework, so I'll have to pull Ron out of bed._

--End Four--


	5. Chapter 5

Tiny Twist

Chapter Five

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter.

(--)

Harry rolled out of bed then walked over to his best friend's sleeping form. Quickly spelling his claws so that they wouldn't cut anything, he grabbed the seat of Ron's pants and the back of his shirt before lifting the redhead and slamming him back into the bed multiple times. "Get up, Ron! We've got things to do!"

"Gah! I'm, ack! Up!" the youngest male Weasley exclaimed, causing Harry to release him while removing the charms over his claws. "It's a _Saturday_, Harry. What the bloody hell's the matter with you?!"

"Get up, in the shower, and dressed then I'll fill you in," Harry answered as he took his robes to the bathroom. Ron followed with a grumble. "All right. I found an enchanted diary. It showed Tom Riddle capturing Hagrid for opening the Chamber of Secrets. We need to ask Hagrid about it…preferably as soon as possible."

"All right, then. Let's get Hermione and go!" Ron replied before they ran to the common room. "Hermione?" the redhead asked as he looked around the room, spying for the tell-tale bushy, brown hair. "She might be in the library."

Harry sighed. "We don't have time to run to get her." Sighing again, he summoned his Invisibility Cloak. Instead of flying to him like it normally would, it appeared directly in his hand. Wrapping the fabric over himself, he threw it over Ron as well. "We don't want to get caught," he explained quickly as they stepped forward.

"Harry?" Ron asked, getting the boy's attention, as his best friend's foot shown in the light. "Where's your shoes?"

"They're uncomfortable when I have a pair of scaly boots, Ron," the tri-haired boy answered with a light smile as they made their way down the Grand Staircase. Unbeknownst to the redhead, Harry had cast a discrete silencing charm on them. _Thankfully,_ he mused to himself, knowing just how graceless his friend was in the art of stealth.

"Ow!" aforementioned friend exclaimed as they reached the Entrance Hall doors. Harry gave a curious look to him. "I just stubbed my toe on the back of your foot and you didn't even feel it?!"

"Well…nope, not at all." Then, Harry continued walking, his feet making nary a sound. He could easily feel the grass beneath his feet, but didn't question why he couldn't feel Ron's accidental kick. Shrugging at the thought, he quickly knocked on Hagrid's door.

"Who's there?" the loud voice of Harry's first humanoid friend bellowed through the door. The wooden plank swung outward as a crossbow was jabbed at them.

"It's us, Hagrid. We've got something we need to ask you," Harry replied, his voice soft. He lifted the cloak, letting Hagrid see their heads.

"Well…all righ'. Get in 'ere." They did so, declining Hagrid's offer of tea and cakes. "Wha' 'appened to yeh, 'Arry?"

"I got bit by a magical snake and I'm the Scale Master, but that's beside the point. Hagrid…" Harry paused here. "What do you know about Tom Riddle and the Chamber of Secrets? I found his enchanted diary. It showed me when he…turned you in for it. What was that spider?" 

"I-it weren't me, 'Arry, I'll swear tha'. The spider was Aragog. I found 'im one day and kep' 'im in me pocket – ta take care of 'im. Riddle accused me a doin' it ta save 'is own skin. Ruddy boy, 'e was," Hagrid answered after a long sigh, figuring that the two would get it out of him one way or another. _'Sides, if these two can stop the petrifyin', the school'll be thankful for it,_ he figured.

"Hagrid, the spider in the diary's image was _huge_. What kind was it? I know it wasn't any normal tarantula," Harry questioned next, getting another sigh from the half-giant.

"'E's a Acromantula, 'Arry-" A sudden knock came to the door, making them all, except Harry (who had sensed three people coming toward the cabin), jump from their seats. "Get under yeh cloak, 'Arry – quickly." Harry gave Hagrid a bland look. "Aragog won't speak of 'is greatest fear." The Scale Master nodded before covering Ron and himself with his cloak as Hagrid covered a questionable creature with a blanket. The knock came again, more insistent. "Jus' a minute! Tidyin' up a bit!"

"I must, again, say this, Cornelius: I do not believe it is Hagrid who is petrifying these students," Albus Dumbledore's voice carried through the door before it was opened. As the two came inside, Harry was curious as to who the third presence was.

"I know what you believe, Albus, and I am grateful for your advice, but Hagrid's record is against him and I must take him in," the man, Harry assumed to be the Cornelius that the Headmaster had spoken to, stated in reply.

"'Take me'? Take me where? Certainly not Azkaban Prison?!" the groundskeeper inquired incredulously. "I've not done anythin'!"

"I believe Minister Fudge has the authority to take you, Hagrid," a smooth yet arrogant voice stated as a blonde man came into the hut.

"Lucius Malfoy! What're you doin' here?!" Hagrid shouted at him. "Get outta my house!" Harry's shoulders shook with repressed laughter at the blonde, Draco Malfoy's father, if he had guessed correctly.

Lucius sneered at the man before turning to Dumbledore, handing a roll of parchment to him. "The Board of Governors finds you to be…inadequate, Dumbledore. They wish for your immediate dismissal. You'll find all twelve signatures."

"Hmm… You shall find, Lucius, that I am always where I am needed, and those most loyal to me will always have my support. The smallest amount of courage in these dark times can amount to the greatest of achievements," the Headmaster replied, getting a very slight smile from Harry before the boy's glare was directed, full force, at the Malfoy patriarch. "Are you all right, Lucius?" Albus asked when the man shuddered suddenly, though none there knew it was because of Harry's glare.

"I am just fine, Dumbledore. Shall we?" the blonde replied, motioning Dumbledore to leave before himself. "Good day, Cornelius."

"Have a wonderful evening, Lucius," the Minister responded before looking back to Hagrid. "I think that we should make the same exit, don't you, Hagrid?"

"If I 'ave to," was the remark from the usually-friendly half-giant. Two hands, one on each arm, comforted him from under Harry's Invisibility Cloak. Sighing heavily, Hagrid said, "Let's go and get this done with."

"That's the spirit, Hagrid."

--

"All right, so we know that it's an Acromantula's biggest fear…" Harry mumbled to himself as he shuffled around the library, robe- and shoeless. He had his sleeves rolled up as he scanned the shelves for books on what he'd found to be what Ron called 'bloody huge spiders'. Growling in frustration, he lifted his hand and whispered, "Search: Acromantula Predators."

A book nearly leapt into his hand from the top of a bookcase three rows down. "No wonder you couldn't find it, mate. You'd have to fly up there to reach it!" Ron said from beside him, finding himself to nearly have a mouthful of Harry's fist. "Whoa, mate… Anger management…"

"That's what that was," the other boy retorted before setting down with the book on an outcropping from the window. "Lets see… Index… Acromantula… Main predator…" Harry mumbled as he searched through the back of the book. "Aha. Page…three-hundred-forty-five."

"You've been sneaking off to the library without us, haven't you, Harry?" Ron asked jokingly, surprised at the fact that his friend found the subject so quickly.

"Because I have the ability to lift a book, open it to the index, and find what I'm searching for doesn't mean you don't either. Find a book on basilisks," the barely-taller Gryffindor said, ordering the last sentence.

"Basilisks? What are those?" Ron asked as he started roaming directly behind him.

"Snakes, Ron; big-ass snakes! Under _animals_ and_ reptiles_, Ron! It _won't_ be found near 'One Hundred Ways to Psych the Psychic', you ninny!"

"Sheesh, Harry…lay off, would you? What' s gotten into you?"

"It's been nothing but a mask, Ron. You live with the Dursleys for ten years and see if you don't create a few to save your life," Harry answered as he replaced the Acromantula book, after extending his wings, then flew over to another bookshelf, withdrawing a text on the basilisk. "I feel like I should know all about these…but I can't access it… It seems like something is trying to block me from it."

"Maybe it's Dumbledore again? After all, he did block almost all your magic away from you. It wouldn't surprise me," Ron stated, getting a thoughtful noise from his best friend. _Harry did a complete turn-around after that snake bit him… He's changed so much in so little time…though people seem to find him more likable than before._ Ron shook these thoughts from his head when a spark of interest ignited in Harry's eyes. "What is it? What'd you find?"

"A basilisk's stare can kill if it makes eye contact. If you gaze into one's eyes indirectly, you'll be paralyzed… Sound familiar?" Harry leaned back against the bookshelf as he wrapped his wings around himself. "Hmm… It can't affect a phoenix… Curious how Dumbledore's got one. I don't think Fawkes is overly fond of the man anyway," he mused to himself as he continued reading. "'Will hold the fabled Scale Master above all others'…?" A grin curved Harry's lips. _This just gets better and better,_ he thought before sensing someone that felt overly familiar coming closer to them.

"Potter, Weasley; come with me. There's something you need to see," Professor McGonagall's voice stated. "Mr. Potter, withdraw your wings, if you would?"

"Of course, Professor," he answered as they shrank into his back. "Where's the fire?" The woman gazed blankly at him. "Muggle saying. What's wrong?"

"You'd better see for yourself," she stated, giving a curious look to her student at the fact that he was running about without shoes. "Potter…where is your footwear?"

"My trainers make my scales itch," was his answer as they came to the Fourth Floor – the Hospital Wing. At the sight of Poppy's worried face when she sighted Ron and himself, Harry instantly knew something big was up. "Madame Pomfrey? What's going on?"

"It's…Miss Granger, Harry… She's been petrified."

--End Five--


	6. Chapter 6

Tiny Twist

Chapter Six

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter.

(--)

Harry's eyes widened as Ron ran to their friend's bedside behind Madam Pomfrey. "She…She's been…petrified…? 'Mione…?" he asked softly, his throat clenching between his words. Slowly, he stepped over to the girl. "'Mione?" he asked again, raising his hands to touch each of her cheeks with his scaly palms. He bit his lip as he gazed at her frozen form. "How?"

"We believe she was using this mirror to glance around corners," Professor McGonagall answered gently, holding the polished, metallic surface up for them to see. "If this continues, I will fear for the school…especially with Albus gone."

Harry slipped his hand into his female best friend's. "Don't worry, Professor," he said, not looking at the Scottish woman. She glanced at him with widened eyes. "You can't tell us not to seek this thing out. It hurt 'Mione… I'll either kill it or befriend it… One way or another, it won't be hurting anyone else." Harry watched her out of the corner of his eye, seeing her nodding reluctantly. "Thank you, ma'am."

"Just be careful, you two," she replied before leaving.

"You heard the woman, Harry. If you end up in here, unconscious _again_, I am going to move you here – _permanently_." Poppy got a small smile from the Scale Master. "I'll leave you two with your friend. You will have to leave in a few minutes though because we are going to be working with mandrakes." Ron and Harry nodded before she left. _I hope they won't do anything rash…_ she thought to herself worriedly.

"There's something in 'Mione's hand, Ron," the Boy-Who-Lived stated as he carefully extracted a piece of parchment from his friend's cold grip. "She found it out, too," he informed, looking at the paper that had a basilisk drawn on it. "Except she found out how it's getting through the school – the pipes."

"We need to find the entrance to the Chamber, Harry," Ron said determinedly.

"Wait a sec… What if…" Harry paused, curious about his thought. _Could it be?_ "They said that one person was killed when the Chamber was opened fifty years ago, and the person was outside of the girl's bathroom on the second floor… Could Myrtle have been that person?"

"It's bloody possible," Ron replied. "We should go and ask."

"Oh yes… I can see it now, 'Hello, Myrtle, how are you today? Can you tell us how you died?' That'll go over _real_ well," Harry remarked with a bit of a scowl. He bit his lip. "We can still check it out."

"Let's go, then," the redhead stated, pulling Harry from his chair after they both gave an awkward hug to their friend. "You've got your wand, right?"

"Even though I don't need it? Yes, I-" They both suddenly stopped, staring at a wall from behind another. "'Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever'? Who?" Harry read in a whisper, having sensed the Transfiguration Professor. He looked at his best friend curiously, getting a shrug from the youngest Weasley male.

"Who is it, Minerva?" a voice asked as they listened in.

"…Ginny Weasley…" the normally stern woman answered in a dismal voice.

"G-Ginny?" Ron asked softly and with a slight squeak in his voice. Harry held back a growl of anger as a few more teachers came onto the scene.

"I totally could have saved her if I'd known," a voice stated that they both didn't want to hear. Harry did growl this time. "What was that?!"

"Professor Lockhart," Harry hissed coldly as he came up behind the man, no one having seen him coming. "If you are so great…why _didn't_ you know…? You should have realized something like this was going to happen right when you walked into the school, that is…if your sorcerer's instinct is to be believed…" the boy continued, feeling pride escaping the Potions Master in waves toward him and his ability to scare the Defense Professor nearly to death. "So… Do you know where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets lies, _Professor_?"

"Of course I do."

"Well, then, I do believe this is where your experience in all things beastly will come in handy, Lockhart," Snape sneered at the other Professor as the blonde trembled in what they could all excuse as excitement. "You seem so eager."

"Of course I am! I only need to gather a few supplies just in case there is more than one monster there," the flashy-dressed man replied with a smile before turning to leave, if not for the enraged Scale Master standing in his way. "What is it, boy?"

"That's Mr. Potter to you, you stupid has-been." Harry's wings flared outward, lifting him into the man's face. "You've got your wand, don't you?" he asked, getting a nod. "Then that's all you need. I didn't even have that when Voldemort attacked me as a baby or when he possessed the previous Defense teacher and tried to kill me _again_.

"You have all you need to save Ginny Weasley's life," the boy finished, taking the man's arm in an iron-like grip and flapping his wings to fly up into the air. "So, where's the Chamber?"

"I-it's, ah…it…"

"You don't know, do you? You're a fraud, you weak-minded, pathetic excuse for a wizard. You disgust me," Harry spat at him before flying around the corner, grabbing Ron's hand in his free one as he did so. "Come on, Ron. We're going to save your sister with or without this worthless, fickle human."

"You tell 'em, Harry!" the redhead exclaimed with a smile, glad to see his friend breaking out of his shell to defend what mattered to him.

"H-Harry…? Are you _sure_ we can't work this out another way? Maybe…let me go?" the man dangling by his arm asked.

"Quiet, human," Harry snapped as they landed. Ron took out his wand and aimed it at the Professor, taking the man's wand quickly. "Myrtle? Are you here?"

"Harry? Is that you?" a giggly voice asked as the ghost girl came up from her toilet. "Did you come to see me?"

"Sort of… I don't mean to be rude or anything like that, but…could you tell us how…how you died?" She flew up close to him, staring at him intensely. "I don't want to offend you."

"You aren't offending me, Harry… You're the first person to ever ask!" she giggled as she reached up to touch the scales on his face, though not for the first time. Myrtle had been curious about them when she'd first seen him because she'd never seen another like him. "I remember a pair of great, big, yellow eyes by the sink behind me. I saw them and just dropped dead right beside my cubical." Somehow, she was able to touch him and she took advantage of it as she continued tracing his scales. "I want you to know, Harry, that if you die down there, you're welcome to share my toilet."

"Thanks, Myrtle. No offence, but I hope I don't have to take you up on that yet. There's another girl about to be killed and we've got to save her," Harry replied before looking at the sink. _**"Open,"**_ he hissed at it. Suddenly, he winced, just remembering Axel. _Well…it's probably better that he stay in the warming charm I left for him. I don't want him getting hurt._

"Be careful, Harry, but, if you do, die gracefully!"

"Er…I will," the boy replied with a grin as the sink finished moving. "See you when we get back, Myrtle."

"Good bye, Harry," she said with a giggle and a wave as the boy turned to Lockhart.

"Professors first, Lockhart. After all, you are supposed to defend the children here with your life," the tri-haired Gryffindor spat at the man, his eyes glowing angrily.

"C-can't we just t-talk about _THIS – AHHH!"_ Harry grinned at Ron when he pushed the man down the pipe. "It's awful dirty down here…" echoed back to them, getting sniggers from the two.

"Eh…you first, mate," Ron offered, stepping back as Harry rolled his eyes before dropping onto the slimy, molded metal. A whoop of excitement echoed up for Ron from Harry. "Here goes nothing," the redhead mumbled before following his friend, sounding like a screaming banshee all the way down. Looking up at Harry after standing, he found his friend to be rolling his eyes again. "You're nuts, mate."

"I know." Harry turned to walk on down the passageway, chuckling when Ron started jabbing Lockhart with his broken wand. "Whoa…this is a bloody big basilisk…" he stated at seeing a huge length of snakeskin, causing Ron and Lockhart to look at him and it. The Defense teacher fainted. "Pathetic human," Harry grumbled as he inspected the skin in front of him.

"Ha!" Lockhart jumped up and took Ron's wand from him, getting a fierce protest from the redhead. "Quiet, boy. I'm holding all the cards now! All I have to do is cast a few charms!"

"Can you even _do_ any magic? You were a horrible Defense teacher," Harry questioned, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Actually, I'm rather gifted with memory charms. I couldn't have the people who'd actually done all those things I took credit for coming back and saying that I stole their accomplishments, now could I?" Lockhart replied with a laugh. "Enough of this charade! I'll take you both back, say how we were too late to save her and how Mr. Weasley, here, lost his mind at the sight of his sister's mangled body while you died against the monster before I could slay it!"

"If that's all it takes to lie, I should have done so years ago," Harry mocked, getting a grin from his best friend.

"You first, famous Harry Potter," Lockhart grumbled as he turned the wand to the boy. "Say goodbye to your memories! _Obliviate_!" The teacher flicked the wand, a green light sweeping up it before reaching the Spell-O-Tape around the middle and blasting backwards, throwing Lockhart into the ceiling with a shout of surprise from him.

Ron quickly snatched his wand back. "Bloody man's a menace," he spat at the blonde.

Lockhart sat up, looking at them confusedly. "Hello. Who are you? Better yet, who am I?" he asked, before looking around at where he was. Picking up a rock, he looked at Ron and added, "Do you live down here?'

"No!" the redhead exclaimed, taking the rock from the man and slapping his head with it, knocking the man out cold. "He's worse than Snape!"

"Ex_cuse_ me?" Harry asked, waiting for clarification of what his best friend was talking about.

"Well, Snape may be a git, but at least he knows what he's teaching!" Ron answered, getting a roll of Harry's eyes. "Bloody hell!" the youngest Weasley male shouted when the ground started to shake.

"Dammit!" Harry shouted as a mass of boulders fell down from the ceiling, forcing him to leap away. "Ron! Are you all right?!"

"I'm fine but I can't get through to you!"

"That's all right! Shift some of this rock while I go on ahead to get Ginny! And keep an eye on that bloody blonde bastard!" Ron's chuckling followed the Scale Master as he trudged off down the tunnel. He nearly spat at the door when he hissed at it. Walking into the Chamber of Secrets, his feet made no sound on the floor. As an extra precaution, he took his wand out, it's smooth texture calming him somewhat. Looking about at all the serpent statues, he stopped when he sighted red hair that was attached to the girl laying on the floor that he'd come after. "Ginny! Finally," he grumbled the last part, though in relief.

He noticed she was barely breathing, getting a slight rise out of him. Harry couldn't let her die. He shook her a bit, calling her name, until a nearly soundless scraping caught his attention. "She won't wake," a measured voice stated, a voice Harry recognized. Whipping about to look into the eyes of the person he knew to be Tom Riddle, Harry didn't expect that the man would gasp and bow at the waist. "Scale Master! It is not you whom I seek to be rid of!"

"If you're looking for Harry Potter, then yeah, I am."

--End Six--


	7. Chapter 7

Tiny Twist

Chapter Seven

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter.

(--)

"The Scale Master? And Harry Potter? One and the same? Now _this_ is a turn of events…" Turning around, with Harry's wand still in his hand, he lifted his free one to Salazar Slytherin's statue. "Speak to me, Salazar Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four!" He faced Harry again. "Let's match the power of Lord Voldemort, Heir of Salazar Slytherin, and Harry Potter, Scale Master."

"You're Voldemort?" Harry asked, his eyebrow raised, emphasizing the icy-blue color over his eyelids. "Ah! I see. Tom Marvolo Riddle – I am Lord Voldemort."

"I didn't even have to spell it out for you; I'm impressed," the sixteen-year-old stated.

"I sensed some strange magic about your diary, as well. Bloody good wand-work, but not enough to get by my enhanced and new senses. So, you're calling Aegis out, are you? Sire Slytherin's guardian for the school?" the Gryffindor asked, crossing his arms with a smirk worthy of Draco Malfoy on his face. Hissing spewed forth from Tom's mouth, calling the basilisk out from the underground. _Joy… I don't even know if her eyesight can kill me or not!_ Harry grumbled in his thoughts as he snapped his wings out, thankful that magic made room for them in his clothing, and shielded himself with them.

_**"Kill him!"**_ Tom shouted, the order invoking Aegis to open her eyes to gaze at the Scale Master, whose own eyes were closed tightly. _**"If he won't look at you, then use your poison! Bite him!"**_

A sudden cry echoed before Fawkes flew into the chamber, knowing that he couldn't let Harry get hurt. After all, he was quite fond of the boy. Perching on the basilisk's face carefully, the phoenix clawed the serpent's eyes out. Crying out in pain, the basilisk shook the phoenix off, getting another cry from it before an old hat landed at Harry's feet in a ball of flame.

_**"You can still smell him! Kill him! KILL HIM!!!"**_

Harry suddenly got a bright idea. _**"Stop, Aegis. By the Power of Serpents in my blood, I urge you to stop."**_ The huge snake quickly did so, freezing in motion as he gazed at her in sorrow for her eyes. _**"Will your eyesight cause the Scale Master to perish?"**_

_**"No, Master… You are immune to all that a scaly creature could ever hope to do to you,"**_ a soft, soothing hiss answered from the basilisk. _**"I had not known that it was you I had been sent to kill…"**_

_**"Shh… It's all right, Aegis. I'm more concerned about your eyes. Bring your face to mine,"**_ Harry gently commanded, smiling when the serpent did so. Placing his hands on her face, he focused magic to his intent to heal her. Golden-yellow, slit eyes were focused on him a moment later. _**"Much better,"**_ he hissed/whispered with a small, kind smile. An abrupt glow came from the Sorting Hat, and he looked over at it. "What's this?"

Another cry came from Fawkes, Harry knowing that, if the firebird could, he'd be grinning. Shrugging with a sigh, he lifted the hat to see inside it before pulling out two, gleaming blades, one a foot long while the other was about nine inches. The hilts were beautifully polished silver with small, some tiny, emeralds encrusted into them. The blades themselves were glossy black with 'Slytherin' engraved in Gothic lettering up the middle of each in a green that shimmered silver. Again, Fawkes gave a loud cry, but it sounded more like a trilling laugh.

"Put that in your eye, Dumbledore," Harry whispered softly before walking over to Tom. "I think I've ruined your chances of coming back to life, Voldemort." The boy held the longer dagger in his right hand and the shorter in his left as he took the diary from Ginny's nearly dead grasp. "I think we've had enough fun for today."

"NO!" Tom yelled as Harry stabbed the diary. He flung Harry's wand in front of him, casting a curse. _What?_ Or he would have cast a curse, if he still had the wand. The boy had wandlessly summoned it back to his pocket. A resounding shout of pain came from the memory, the sixteen-year-old's body crumbling into dust.

Ginny gasped as she shot up. "Don't open your eyes!" She looked confusedly toward the voice. "Aegis won't kill you on purpose, but if you look into her eyes, she can't really stop that, can she?" The redhead closed her eyes without a fuss after that. Hissing came from the person who'd rescued her. "Okay, you're fine now."

"I…I'm sorry, Harry," she said softly. "I swear I didn't mean to hurt all those people! It's just that…that… No one would be my friend and when I found that diary in my belongings and wrote in it, Tom wrote back! He was my first friend!" Harry smiled slightly as he stood, helping Ginny up after doing so. She held onto him tightly, declaring profusely that she hadn't meant to do anything, she had gaps in her memory, and that she was sorry.

"Shh… It's all right, Ginny. No one's hurt. They're only paralyzed. _**Aegis… I think she feels bad about controlling you like that,"**_ Harry said, switching to Parseltongue halfway through what he was saying. The basilisk came over and nuzzled the girl's arm, forgiving her. "Come on, let's go find Ron." Harry looked at Aegis. _**"I'm sorry, but you will have to stay here… If anyone knows of you other than Ginny and myself, they may try to kill you. I can't let that happen."**_

_**"I understand, Master."**_

--

After getting back to the actual school, Dumbledore promptly fired Lockhart while admitting him to St. Mungo's. When the returned Headmaster asked Harry how he'd gotten Ginny back, the boy abruptly started hissing at him. What Dumbledore didn't know was that Harry was cursing him very foully. When asked what the creature was, Harry gave a fake shudder and looked away, stating that he was going to bed and he didn't want to talk about it.

Fawkes flew over to him and trilled softly, making it look like he was comforting the boy but was instead communicating with him. _"Aegis will be guarded, Harry, by Hogwarts herself. The castle always protects her guardians. I know because I am one of them. _

_"You actually thought I was Dumbledore's? Oh please, he isn't pure enough! Now…_you_ on the other hand…"_

Fawkes flew back to his perch and winked at Harry from behind Dumbledore's back. "Thank you, Fawkes…" he whispered softly before leaving, his eyes looking a little lighter, though that was nearly impossible because of their glowing.

--

_I hate Dursleys, I hate Dursleys, I HATE DURSLEYS!_ was Harry's mantra as he rode the train home, grumbling in time with his thoughts as Ron and Hermione gazed curiously at him. When asked what was wrong, he merely stated, "I'm going back to live with people who'd rather me dead than in their house. Wouldn't you be upset?" and they dropped the subject.

The door suddenly slammed open, admitting one Draco Malfoy. "I heard you fought a basilisk, Heir of Slytherin," the blonde stated, taunting with the title, but the tone was that of a question.

"Yeah, and?" Malfoy didn't answer. "Oh fine." Harry stood and motioned him to lead the way. "I'll be back, guys." He left as they protested, following Malfoy all the way to the back of the train and into the luggage compartment. Luckily, no one ever came back there, because, as soon as the door was shut, the blonde was kissing him. "Sorry, Draco… I've missed you, too." Harry waved his hand at the door, casting enough privacy charms to sink a battleship – good thing they were weightless.

"Where did you learn all of those, Harry?" Draco asked as he wrapped his arms around the Scale Master's waist, knowing what would happen if he touched the scales of the boy's spine and wings without being careful.

"I've read a lot over the past few months, quite _specifically_ on privacy charms. Being in Gryffindor means when you do something, the entire Tower knows in about…three-point-five seconds," Harry answered, getting a laugh from his boyfriend. "I'm surprised we've been able to keep this secret so long…"

"As am I, but your acting skills beat my own easily," Draco replied, referring to the 'Boo!' incident, as he called it. "Hey," the blonde said softly when Harry looked away with a slight cringe, "Don't blame yourself. I should have listened to Sev."

"But that wouldn't have been true Draco Malfoy fashion, would it?" Draco shook his head with a smirk before kissing the tri-haired boy again. "By the way, Draco, I'm not the Heir of Slytherin… Voldemort is."

"How was he in the school? Better yet, alive?" the blonde asked softly, shocked at that revelation.

"He preserved himself in a diary, which was given to one Ginny Weasley by, lo and behold, Lucius Malfoy – who lost his House Elf because I returned the book which he then shoved at Dobby who opened it to find a sock which set him free!" the Scale Master answered with a grin, smiling when he got a laugh out of the Slytherin in his arms. "I didn't kill Aegis, though. I didn't even fight her."

"Who's Aegis?"

"The basilisk. Fawkes clawed her eyes out, and, after she'd calmed, I asked her if her sight could hurt me. She told me that it couldn't, and I healed her. After that, these came out of the Sorting Hat, which Fawkes brought to me." Harry took Slytherin's Daggers from their concealed places in the sheaths that had come to him. One, the longer, was over his right shoulder, while the shorter rested horizontally at his back on his waist, pointing to his right. "The sheaths have sticking charms to that I don't have to keep any constricting belts on my body to hold them where I want them; the charms are so powerful that even _I_ can't remove them – and I'm not bragging either."

"They're beautiful, Harry. I've read somewhere that the Hat contains Gryffindor's Sword, Ravenclaw's Bo Staff, Hufflepuff's Bow and Arrow, and Slytherin's Daggers. You've got Salazar Slytherin's weapons of choice," Draco informed him as he inspected the works of art closely. "It wouldn't surprise me if there was a way for you to earn the other three." Draco suddenly looked up at him and asked, "Does Dumbledore know you have these?"

"Pft, you honestly think I'd tell him?" Harry asked incredulously.

"Well, you _are_ in Gryffindor."

"But you know full well that this lion is a snake at heart!"

"A heart that belongs to me."

"Then I guess we've traded," Harry chuckled deeply, sending a shiver up the blonde. "I know we're just twelve, but it feels like I'm…fourteen…"

"I know what you mean, Harry. I've always felt older than people my age. Must be our experiences that have changed us," Draco suggested, deep in thought. "Who cares? I'm not going to question it! I would rather feel older than act younger!" After that declaration, the two dissolved into a heated kiss.

"Oh shit," Harry murmured half an hour later. "I forgot that I have to get back to Ron and 'Mione before they come searching for me."

"You haven't told them about us yet? I told my closest friends the first time we kissed!" Draco wondered, raising an eyebrow at the scaly boy.

"Who do you think they'd tell as soon as I gave them that information?" Draco sighed. "Yeah… Dumbledore. Of course, that's _after_ the entire Gryffindor House found out."

"Okay so… How do we explain this away?"

"I glamour you to look like you've had the shit beat out of you because almost nothing can bruise or pierce my skin or break my bones. We mess up the compartment here a bit. You'll have to leave first, I'll come out with a smirk, and viola!"

"What is…'viola'?" Harry rolled his eyes and shook his head before raising his hand. "Eh…Harry, what are you doing?"

"I'm casting glamours on you," the boy answered slowly, as if speaking to unintelligent life form. Lowering his hand a moment later, Draco had a black eye, split lip, a bruise on his jaw, it looked vaguely like his arm was broken, and his robes were ripped in several places. Harry grinned before stepping over to the luggage and tossing some of it about, knocking others over, and landing a few dents in the walls with his fists. "Now, I just have to work on my clothes and…there we go," he mumbled to himself as rips, tears, and cuts laced his robes. "I can't just glamour mine because then Ron and 'Mione will know something's up."

"I understand that, Harry. I'm Slytherin, remember? I find loopholes in other people's plans, I don't make them in my own," Draco said with a laugh as he stepped over to Harry. "There's just one thing I want to do."

"What's that?" Harry asked as the blonde walked up behind him. "Draco?" He suddenly gave a loud moan, his skin flushing a light red, as the Malfoy heir licked the scales up the boy's spine through a cut in his shirt. "_Twelve_, remember? I can't walk around with a fucking erection!" He nearly screamed when gentle fingers and lips joined the warm, wet tongue, the blonde's hands sneaking under his shirt to attack the scales that marked his wings. "Draaaco…" he groaned before white encompassed his vision and he came. "Hello… _Twelve_…" he mumbled as his eyes fell to half-lidded. "Wha' the 'ell…?"

"Welcome to your first orgasm. I'm proud to have been the one to give it to you."

--End Tiny Twist--


End file.
